1. Field
The present invention relates generally to efficient processing of received data over a wireless communication system.
2. Background
Demand for delivery of data over communications networks continues to expand. Consumers seek delivery of streaming video and other multimedia data at increasing rates over multiple communication channels, including wired and wireless networks and the Internet. Data can be received in different formats and at different rates, but in most if not all cases data is received in the form of data packets.
Wireless transmission of data, including multimedia data, has become more commonplace in the last several years. Wireless communication systems are employed in various applications, including, for example, cellular telephones, paging, wireless local loops, smartphones and personal digital assistants (PDAs), Internet telephony, and satellite communication systems. A particularly important application is cellular telephone systems for mobile subscribers. As used herein, the term “cellular” system encompasses both cellular and personal communications services (PCS) frequencies. Various over-the-air interfaces have been developed for such cellular telephone systems including frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), and code division multiple access (CDMA).
Different domestic and international standards exist and support various air interfaces including, for example, Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS), Global System for Mobile (GSM), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), Interim Standard 95 (IS-95) and its derivatives, IS-95A, IS-95B, ANSI J-STD-008 (often referred to collectively herein as IS-95), high-data-rate systems such as cdma 2000, Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS), wideband CDMA (WCDMA), and others. These standards are promulgated by the Telecommunication Industry Association (TIA), 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), 4th Generation Partnership Project (4GPP), European Telecommunication Standards Institute (ETSI), and other well-known standards bodies.
Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication (e.g., voice, data, multimedia services, etc.) to multiple users. These systems may be multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., bandwidth and transmit power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, 3GPP/3GPP2/4GPP/4GPP2 Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, and orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems.
Users of wireless receiving devices operating on mobile radio networks such as cellular telephone networks receive streaming video, multimedia, and Internet Protocol (IP) transmissions via a wireless communication link. Such transmissions may include teleconference or television broadcasts, multimedia multicasts/broadcasts, and Internet transmissions received on a user's cell phone or other portable wireless communication device.
Due to the limited resources available in typical wireless receiving devices, as well as delays in processing the significant amount of data received, certain bottlenecks or bandwidth issues can occur at various points along the path from receipt to use of the data. As a result, processing of the large amounts of data received can require significant resources. It is desirable to limit the delay issues encountered and/or reduce the amount of processing resources required when decoding received data.
There is therefore a need in the art for techniques and devices that can reduce the amount of delay and the processing resources required in data received via a wireless communication network.